Lorna Brown is leaving the Royal Bank of Scotland to join US private equity firm Blackstone.
Brown, who as head of UK real estate restructuring at RBS has been spearheading the bank’s efforts to deleverage its £85bn of property debt, will join Blackstone in the new year, as revealed by EGi (28 October).
She is expected to take a key debt strategy role at Blackstone which, in July, was selected as the preferred party to team up with RBS in a joint venture – known as Project Isobel – to manage the workout of £1.4bn of distressed debt.
Blackstone is set to benefit from Brown’s expertise in relation to the portfolio’s loans, many of which would have been structured and underwritten while she was at the bank.
It is understood that Brown will play a crucial role building up a debt team at Blackstone and further appointments are expected in due course.
The market widely sees the Blackstone deal as a precursor to further loan trading by RBS, and believes that the addition of Brown to Blackstone’s team gives the firm an advantage when brokering any future deals. RBS has retained 75% of the equity – or £300m – in the joint venture with Blackstone.
The process to replace Brown, who is a key figure in the UK property banking industry, will be undertaken by former Savills’ chief executive Aubrey Adams when he joins RBS on 1 November.
Brown, who joined RBS in 2001, set up the bank’s real estate team, which undertakes the restructuring and management of loans.
